Confirm Ibrahim Magu as EFCC Substantive chair, ANEEJ urges NASS

Benin City, Nigeria…The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ has called on the National Assembly, NASS, to give accelerated attention and hearing to the confirmation of current EFCC substantive Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, so that the anti-corruption battle of the present administration can move on at full throttle.
This demand was made in a statement made available to the media by ANEEJ Executive Director, the Rev David Ugolor, in the wake of delays in the confirmation of Mr Ibrahim Magu. ANEEJ notes that prior to the process leading to the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Commission, the National Assembly went on recess and has not reconvened to dispense with the confirmation process.
‘’Section 2 of the EFCC Act established by the National Assembly itself does not make provisions for an acting chairman. What the section says is that there shall be a chairman who shall be the chief executive officer of the commission, and who shall not be below the rank of an assistant commissioner of police. He is to be saddled with the responsibility of running the anti-crime commission. ANEEJ verily believes that Mr. Magu meets and exceeds this requirement, and therefore his confirmation as EFCC Chairman will give the anti-corruption fight the boost it needs to end the culture of impunity and systemic corruption in Nigeria’, Rev Ugolor said in the statement.
ANEEJ likens Ibrahim Magu to a square peg in a square hole. He had served as head of the Economic Governance Unit (EGU) of the EFCC during the tenure of Nuhu Ribadu as chairman and carried out several high profile investigations including that of former Governor James Ibori and current Senate president, Bukola Saraki who was allegedly involved in the collapse Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria.
‘’Both Mr. Magu and President Buhari have shown by their utterances and temperament that they have zero tolerance to corruption. Within the very short time that Mr Magu has been substantive chairman of the EFCC, he has successfully tracked all, and anyone remotely and directly connected with the disbursement of money meant to fight Boko Haram to politicians. In addition, property linked to politically exposed persons with proceeds from offshore tax havens, have been confiscated under his watch and alleged owners are being investigated for prosecution. ANEEJ believes that his confirmation as EFCC chair will send a strong message that President Buhari is indeed committed to tackle corruption’’, the ANEEJ director added.
The statement called on the National Assembly to reconvene as quickly as possible and treat Mr. Magu’s confirmation as executive chairman of the EFCC as a matter of top priority and urgent national attention.
ABOUT ANEEJ: We seek to contribute to the emergence of a just and equitable African society through socio-economic and environmental rights protection, institutional strengthening and people’s empowerment.